Condom container and applicator

ABSTRACT

A condom, container and applicator for a condom, in which the condom is provided in a longitudinally expandable cup having a peel-off lid. The cup is typically formed of plastic material. The side wall of the container is expandable, and can include accordion-like pleats to allow for longitudinal expansion of the cup. The condom is placed in the cup such that it can be directly applied to the penis while still in the cup, and the cup used as an applicator to unroll the condom over at least the head of the penis by expanding the side wall of the cup. The disclosure also relates to a dispenser for storing and dispensing the condom containers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application and claims the benefit ofthe filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/484,416, filed May 31, 2012, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to packaging for condoms thatfunctions as both a container and applicator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Condoms are typically packaged in individually sealed packaging, thatthe user tears open. Typically, the packaging is formed of two sheets offoil that are heat-sealed together to form a generally square pocketthat is designed to be accessed by tearing through the heat-sealededges. Once the packaging has been torn open, it can be difficult totell which is the correct side of the rolled-up condom that should beplaced against the head of the penis in order for the condom to beunrolled easily, especially in the dark. The tear-open packaging canalso not be re-used for sanitary disposal of the used condom.Additionally, the tear-open packaging is not easy to store neatly, anddoes not present any visual appeal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a container and applicator for acondom that is provided with the condom supplied therein. The containerincludes a longitudinally expandable cup or base, and a peel-off lid.The cup is typically formed of plastic material. The side wall of thecontainer is expandable, and can include accordion-like pleats to allowfor longitudinal expansion of the cup. The condom is placed in the cupsuch that it can be directly applied to the penis while still in thecup, and the cup used as an applicator to unroll the condom over atleast the head of the penis by expanding the side wall of the cup.

The container and applicator allows for quick opening thereof, andallows the condom to be quickly and easily applied to the penis withoutthe user having to figure out which is the correct side of the condomthat will allow for easy unrolling thereof. In addition, the user doesnot have to touch the inside of the condom during the applicationprocess. In some arrangements, the container can expand to allow thecondom to be entirely unrolled onto the penis without the user needingto touch the condom, and in other arrangements, the container expandsenough to place the condom over the head of the penis so that the usercan unroll it the rest of the way over the shaft.

The present disclosure also relates to a condom dispenser including adispenser body with at least two condom containers removably provided inthe dispenser body. The condom containers include a base having alongitudinally expandable side wall, a closed end wall and an open end,the base having a generally circular cross section, and a peel away lidattached to the open end of the base. A condom is provided in the baseof each condom container such that the condom may be directly applied tothe penis while still in the base and may be rolled onto the penis byexpanding the height of the base.

The dispenser body can include a cartridge having an open end and aspring biased platform, the condom containers being placed within thecartridge on the spring biased platform such that the condom containersare biased towards the open end of the dispenser body. A removabledispenser can be included that can be detached from the dispenser body,the removable dispenser allowing a user to carry at least two condomcontainers separately from the dispenser body.

The present disclosure further relates to a condom dispenser including adispenser body, a cartridge for receiving a plurality of condomcontainers, and having an opening for dispensing a condom containertherefrom, and a spring-biased arm attached to the dispenser body, thespring-biased arm acting against a wall of a condom container to urgethe condom container into a dispensing position in the opening of thecartridge. The condom container is adapted to have at least one rigidside wall against which the spring-biased arm can act.

The dispensing opening can be an open end of the cartridge, and thedispenser body can include a spring biased platform for receiving thecondom containers such that the condom containers are biased towards theopen end of the dispenser body. Alternatively, the cartridge can includean open end for receiving a plurality of condom containers, and adispensing opening positioned at a lower end of the dispensing body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objectives and advantages of the invention can become moreapparent from the following description and claims and from theaccompanying drawings herein.

FIG. 1 shows a side schematic view of a condom container, and aschematic showing use of the container as an applicator.

FIG. 2 shows schematic views of the resealable top of the container.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic of use of an alternative arrangement of thecontainer.

FIG. 4 shows a plurality of containers in a cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cylindrical dispenser storing multiplecontainers.

FIG. 6 shows examples of cylindrical and cubical dispensers for storingmultiple containers.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another arrangement of a cylindricaldispenser for storing multiple containers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, a condom container 10 is illustrated. Thecontainer 10 comprises an expandable base 12 that is generally in theform of a cup and a resealable lid 14, which will be described in moredetail in the following.

The expandable base 12 is formed from any suitable material, and ispreferably a plastic material that is rigid enough to retain its shapewhile still being somewhat thin and flexible. Other suitable materialsinclude rubber, latex, and the like. In a preferred arrangement, thebase 12 has a substantially cylindrical shape, with one open end 16 anda closed base end 18. A side wall 20 extends between the open end 16 andthe closed base end 18. Thus, the base generally forms a cup forreceiving a condom. The side wall 20 is longitudinally expandable sothat the height or length of the base 12 can be increased, and in onearrangement the side wall 20 may be folded into an accordion-like orpleated arrangement to allow for such expansion. In other arrangements,the side wall 20 may be expandable in other ways, such as by unrolling,or by using a stretchable material to form the wall 20. A lip or flange22 may be provided on the open end 16. In one arrangement, the externaldiameter of the lip 22 may be approximately 2.5″, and the internaldiameter of the base 12 may be approximately 2.0″. It will of course beappreciated that different sizes of containers may be provided, to suitdifferent condom sizes. The base 12 may have a depth of approximately0.25″ to approximately 0.3875″ in an unexpanded configuration, and mayhave a depth of approximately 1.25″ in an expanded configuration. Itwill be appreciated that the depth of the base 12 in the expandedconfiguration may be significantly larger in some arrangements.

The lid 14 is preferably formed of a flexible foil or plastic material.The lid 14 can be sealed to the base 12 with an adhesive (not shown), toprovide a generally air-tight seal. The adhesive may be of any suitabletype, but is preferably one that allows a user to peel the lid 14 fromthe base 12 relatively easily, such as is known from existing foodpackaging. The lid 14 can include a generally triangular latch tab 24including relatively rigid plastic that the user can use to grasp thelid 14 in order to peel it back from the base 12.

A condom is provided in the container 10 in the typical rolled upconfiguration. The condom can either be provided loose in the container10, or the rolled edge of the condom can be placed onto the lip 22, withthe container sized to have a slightly smaller diameter than the typicaldiameter of the rolled edge of the condom. In any arrangement, thecondom is supplied with the correct side facing the top of the container10 so that the condom can be easily unrolled. That is, the rolled edgeof the condom faces away from the lid 14.

The container 10 can be used as an applicator to help the user toquickly and easily apply the condom on the penis. As the condom isprovided in the container with the correct side for unrolling facingtowards the lid 14, once the lid is removed or peeled back, thecontainer 10 is directly applied to the penis, meaning that the condomdoes not need to be removed from the container before application. Thecontainer 10 can then be expanded to assist in unrolling the condom ontothe penis. This allows a condom to be easily applied in the dark, duringpeak anticipation, without the user having to figure out which way thecondom is rolled up or potentially dropping the condom. In particular,either with the rolled edge of the condom pre-supplied on the lip 22, orwith the rolled edge of the condom placed onto the lip 22 by the user,the user can push container 10 onto the penis by grasping the containerjust beneath the lip 22, which allows the lip 22 to push on the rollededge of the condom, thereby unrolling it. Alternatively, the user cangrasp the side wall 20 of the container 10 either close to the closedbase end 10 or just behind the rolled edge of the condom, and can usethe side wall 20 to push on the rolled edge of the condom. The container10 does not need to expand all the way down the shaft of the penis, asonce the condom is initially applied past the head of the penis, theuser can remove the container 10, and continue unrolling the condom inthe usual way.

FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of the lid 14 that can be reclosed forsanitary disposal of the used condom. The latch tab 24 includes twolayers of relatively rigid plastic that are sealed together at only anouter edge portion of the tab. The two layers of the tab are sealedtogether such that a lower layer 26 of the tab 24 can be partiallyseparated from an upper layer 28 by curling the foil lid 14 backwards.In this arrangement, the lip 22 of the container 10 may be enlargedadjacent to the latch tab 24. After use, the condom may be removed fromthe penis and replaced into the container 10. The lower layer 26 of thelatch tab 24 can then be hooked underneath the lip 22 to reclose thecontainer 10. It will be appreciated that in this arrangement, it ispreferred that the lid 14 is not completely removed from the base 12when the container 10 is opened, and it may also be preferable for theadhesive that seals the lid 14 to the base 12 to retain enough tack soas to be resealable after use. The condom can then be disposed of in thecontainer 10.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative arrangement of the container 10 in which thebase 12 is formed of a generally plastic side wall 20, with a softerbase end 18. The firmer plastic side wall 20 may end in a bottom rim 30that extends part way into the base end 18. The rim 30 may have a widthof approximately ⅛″ or less. The firmer side wall 20 and base rim 30 arerigid enough to allow the container 10 to be used in a dispenser, and tohold its shape during storage and transportation. The softer base end 18can be formed of an expandable material, or a folded or crinkledmaterial that can allow for a great degree of expansion, and may be aplastic, rubber, latex or nylon material. The container 10 with thisconfiguration can be used as a condom applicator that can expand furtheralong the shaft of the penis than is allowed with a non-expandable baseend 18. This can allow the container 10 to be used to completely applythe condom to the penis without needing to touch the condom with theirhands.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example dispenser 100 that can hold a number ofcontainers 10, and which can be placed, for example, on a dresser ornightstand. The illustrated dispenser 100 includes a cartridge 102 thathas an open top 104, and an inner movable bottom platform 106 that isspring-biased upwardly with a spring 108. A movable arm 110 can beprovided at the top 104 of the cartridge 102, to hold the containers 10in the cartridge 102 against the force of the spring 108. A removablelid 112 may also be provided. The lid 112 may alternatively be hingedlyattached to the cartridge 102. As illustrated, the cartridge 102 mayhave a generally square cross-section, and the top 104 of the cartridgemay have a stepped shape so that one half of the topmost container 10may easily be grasped by the user for removal of the container 10 fromthe cartridge 100. The lid 112 may have a complementary stepped shape tothe shape of the top 104 of the cartridge 102.

The movable arm 110 may be spring-biased away from the side of thecartridge 102 such that on removal of the lid 112, the arm 110 acts toaid in ejection of the topmost container 10 from the cartridge 102. Thearm 110 can be arranged to push the container 10 forward byapproximately 0.3875″. In some arrangements, the arm 110 can be operatedby a cartridge release actuator button 111. When the dispenser 100 isclosed by replacement of the lid 112 after removal of the topmostcontainer 10, the arm 108 retracts, which allows the spring-biasedplatform 106 to push the remaining containers 10 upwardly. The dispensercan be easily refilled through the open top 104 by moving the arm 110and pushing containers 10 against the force of the spring 108.

In an alternative arrangement shown in FIG. 7, the movable arm 110 canbe provided at the bottom of the cartridge 102, and the dispenser 100can have an opening 120 at the bottom of the side of the cartridge 102.The top 104 of the cartridge 102 has an opening 122 for restocking thecontainer 100, which may be provided with a lid 124. The containers canfall to the bottom of the cartridge due to gravity, and the arm 110 canbe spring-biased away from the side of the cartridge 102 to push thecontainer 10 forward such that it projects slightly from the opening inthe cartridge and can be removed. This arrangement can have a lever orother suitable mechanism to hold the movable arm 110 out of the way toallow a second container 10 to drop into place after removal of thebottom-most container 10.

It will be appreciated that other suitable arrangements of the cartridgeare available for dispensing the containers 10.

In some arrangements, the cartridge 102 may have a generally cylindricalshape, or may have a generally square cross-section, such as generallycube-shaped. In some arrangements, the height of the cartridge 102 canbe approximately 5.25″, and the diameter of the cartridge can beapproximately 3″. This allows for 6 containers 10 to be stored withinthe cartridge. Of course, various sizes of containers 10 and dispensers100 may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention.

A detachable “to-go” dispenser 130 may be attachable to the bottom ortop of the dispenser 100, or may be provided separately. The dispenser130 can be sized to hold 2 or 3 containers 10, and can be detached fromthe dispenser 100 and carried in a user's pocket or bag. The detachabledispenser 130 can be in the form of a simple box or can, and may be asnap-fit into a bottom edge of the main dispenser 100, or may beattachable thereto by any other method known to those of skill in theart. The detachable dispenser 130 may be formed of the same material asthe dispenser 100, or may be formed of a different material. Forexample, the dispenser 100 and detachable dispenser 130 may be formed ofmetal, or a rigid plastic.

The lid 112 may be provided with a removable ornament 114. The ornament114 can be, for example, a model football helmet that can be customizedto suit the user's team preferences. Any suitable ornament 114 can beused, such as a plain sphere or handle, cartoon characters, etc., andcan be changed easily for decorative or promotional reasons. Theornament 114 can be attached to the lid 112 by any suitable means. Forexample, a magnetic disk (not shown) can be attached to the lid 112, anda suitable matching metallic disk can be provided in the ornament 114.Alternatively, the ornament 114 can be glued or screwed onto the lid112.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show different arrangements of the dispenser 100. FIG. 5shows an arrangement with a lid 120 that is swivel mounted to thecartridge 102. FIG. 6 shows arrangements having a sleeve or wrap thereonthat includes the brand and product information, or which can becustomized for promotional purposes.

Further modifications and alternative arrangements of various aspects ofthe invention can be apparent to those skilled in the art in view ofthis description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed asillustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled inthe art the general manner of carrying out the invention.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown anddescribed herein are to be taken as the presently preferredarrangements. Elements and materials may be substituted for thoseillustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed,and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently, allas would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefitof this description of the invention. Changes may be made in theelements and compositions described herein or in the features or in thesequence of features of the methods described herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the followingclaim(s).

What is claimed is:
 1. A condom package comprising: a combined containerand applicator including a longitudinally expandable side wall, anexpandable closed end wall formed of an expandable material, and an openend including a lip, the longitudinally expandable side wall beingfirmer than the expandable closed end wall; a peel away lid attached tothe open end thereof; and a condom provided in the combined containerand applicator and separate from the combined container and applicatorsuch that the condom is configured to be directly applied to a penis byextending the penis through the open end and into the combined containerand applicator while the condom is still in the combined container andapplicator and is configured to be rolled onto the penis by movement ofthe open end of the combined container and applicator down the shaft ofthe penis, thereby increasing a height and interior volume of thecombined container and applicator by longitudinally expanding thelongitudinally expandable side wall and expanding the expandable closedend wall resulting in an increase in an area within the combinedcontainer and applicator along the expandable closed end wall andunrolling the condom, the combined container and applicator then beingremovable from the condom.
 2. The condom package according to claim 1,wherein the peel away lid includes a rigid tab configured to be graspedby a user to peel the peel away lid from the open end of the combinedcontainer and applicator.
 3. The condom package according to claim 2,wherein the rigid tab includes a latch configured to be used to reclosethe peel away lid after use.
 4. The condom package according to claim 3,wherein the latch includes an upper layer and a lower layer of rigidmaterial such that the latch is wrappable around an outer edge of thelip on the open end of the combined container and applicator to positionthe upper layer above the lip along an upper surface thereof and thelower layer underneath the lip along a lower surface thereof to hook thelip between the upper layer and lower layer of the latch to reclose thepeel away lid after use.
 5. The condom package according to claim 1,wherein the longitudinally expandable side wall of the combinedcontainer and applicator includes expandable accordion-like pleats. 6.The condom package according to claim 1, wherein at least thelongitudinally expandable side wall is formed of a plastic material. 7.The condom package according to claim 1, wherein the lip is graspable bya user to expand the longitudinally expandable side wall.
 8. The condompackage according to claim 1, wherein the peel away lid is resealableafter use.
 9. The condom package according to claim 1, wherein theexpandable closed end wall comprises material in a folded or crinkledconfiguration.
 10. The condom package according to claim 1, wherein thelongitudinally expandable side wall ends in a bottom rim that extendsaround the expandable closed end wall.
 11. A condom package comprising:a combined container and applicator having a base having an open end andan expandable interior volume having a longitudinally expandable sidewall and an expandable closed end wall formed of an expandable materialor a material in a folded or crinkled configuration, the longitudinallyexpandable side wall being firmer than the expandable closed end wall; aflexible seal closing the open end of the base, wherein the flexibleseal is formed of a flat, flexible material sealed around thelongitudinally expandable side wall of the base with adhesive; and acondom separately provided in the base of the combined container andapplicator such that the condom is configured to be directly applied toa penis by extending the penis through the open end and into the basewhile the condom is still in the base after the flexible seal has beenpeeled at least partially back, and which is configured to be rolledonto the penis by expanding the longitudinally expandable side wall andexpanding the expandable closed end wall such that an area within thebase along the expandable closed end wall increases, thereby increasinga height and the expandable interior volume of the base and unrollingthe condom contained within the base as the condom is rolled onto thepenis extending into the interior volume.
 12. The condom packageaccording to claim 11, wherein a rigid latch tab is provided on theflexible seal that is configured to be hooked underneath a lip providedon the longitudinally expandable side wall of the base such that theflexible seal is reclosable to provide a receptacle for the condom afteruse.
 13. The condom package according to claim 11, wherein theexpandable closed end wall comprises material in a folded or crinkledconfiguration.
 14. The condom package according to claim 11, wherein thelongitudinally expandable side wall ends in a bottom rim that extendsaround the expandable closed end wall.
 15. A condom dispensercomprising: a dispenser body; at least two condom packages removablyprovided in the dispenser body including: a container/applicator havinga longitudinally expandable side wall, a closed end wall and an openend; and a peel away lid attached to the open end of thecontainer/applicator, wherein the peel away lid includes a rigid tabconfigured to be grasped by a user to peel the peel away lid from theopen end of the container/applicator, wherein the rigid tab includes alatch comprising an upper layer and a lower layer of rigid material suchthat the latch is wrappable around an outer edge of a lip on the openend of the container/applicator to position the upper layer above thelip along an upper surface thereof and the lower layer underneath thelip along a lower, underside, surface thereof to hook the lip betweenthe upper layer and lower layer of the latch to reclose the peel awaylid after use; a condom provided within an interior volume of eachcontainer/applicator and separate from the container/applicator suchthat the condom is configured to be directly applied to a penis whilestill in the container/applicator and is configured to be rolled ontothe penis by expanding a height and the interior volume of thecontainer/applicator.
 16. The condom dispenser according to claim 15,wherein the dispenser body includes a cartridge having an open end and aspring biased platform, the at least two condom packages being placedwithin the cartridge on the spring biased platform such that the atleast two condom packages are biased towards an open end of thedispenser body.
 17. The condom dispenser according to claim 15, furthercomprising a removable dispenser that is configured to be detached fromthe dispenser body, the removable dispenser configured for allowing auser to carry the at least two condom packages separately from thedispenser body.